North Side heroin dealer jailed

15-year-term closes major ring

The leader of a major North Side cocaine and heroin ring was sentenced yesterday to 15 years and 10 months in federal prison.

Michael Keith Good, 45, of Manchester, said nothing as U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti imposed the term, which included a mandatory five years for using a gun during his drug trafficking.

Flowers described Good as an "organizer and leader" of a 20-person ring on the North Side and in Duquesne that flooded the region with heroin and crack.

The ring filled a vacuum left by the prosecution of another huge cocaine and heroin network on the North Side run by Oliver Beasley and Donald Lyles, both of whom are serving life in prison for drug dealing.

Good's arrest in February capped a long federal investigation that relied on the interception of thousands of cell phone calls made by Good and his compatriots, as well as drug deals arranged by informants.

Investigators found more than $276,000 in cash, jewelry and thousands of stamp bags of heroin -- used for street sales -- in the trunk of Good's car after his arrest.

As part of his plea agreement with federal prosecutors, he agreed to forfeit three cars, three homes in Manchester and more than $280,000 in cash, all of which came from drug sales.

The investigation of Good also snared one of his relatives, Chatiqua Good, a former neighborhood policy assistant for Mayor Tom Murphy, who admitted helping the man she called "Uncle Mike" launder $70,000 in drug money, sometimes on the phone from her desk in the mayor's office. She is awaiting sentencing.

Several of Good's other associates have been sentenced to prison, including his heroin supplier, Tennille Chaffin, 27, a Duquesne native who was living in North Fayette. The owner of an upstart rap production company called No Slippin' Records, Chaffin was sentenced this month to 11 years and eight months.

The investigation began with Michael Good, whom Pittsburgh police knew was a major dealer. Detectives and agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration arranged for a series of controlled buys in the fall of 2002. Those buys gave them enough evidence to tap his cell phone, which led to more evidence and more taps on other cell phones used by the ring.

Last January, agents intercepted calls indicating Chaffin and Cye Roy Clanagan, of Penn Hills, were expecting a shipment of heroin from two Dominicans from New York. The deal was set for Jan. 26 at the Holiday Inn-Parkway East.

Agents arrested Chaffin, Bolivar Calcano and Felipe Rivera, all of whom pleaded guilty. Clanagan showed up later and was also arrested. He is serving 10 years and a month in prison.